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PRIME MINISTER'S ALTERNATIVE TAX SERVICE
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/comments23280.html
Published: 10:25:31 - 09/09/2011
The State Revenue Committee is essential to the overall control of
the state administration system and the government, and it is not
accidental that the issue of replacement of its chief lying on the
agenda of the government and the economic arena, nevertheless, remains
unsolved, and the owner of major businesses Gagik Khachatryan continues
to occupy the position of the chief of the tax and customs committee.
The issue of his replacement is regularly brought up but resolved in
favor of Khachatryan who is supported considerably by the oligarchy,
especially the importer oligarchs for which reason even a sign of a
slightest change within the SRC may cause anxiety. It is not accidental
that on the day when the Armenian media environment discussed
actively the rumors that the president had signed the dismissal of
Gagik Khachatryan, the price of sugar soared on the Armenian market
and the agitation regarding Gagik Khachatryan's dismissal faded away.
The Armenian media has often echoed the conflict between Khachatryan
and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. Since his appointment, Tigran
Sargsyan has been speaking about improvement of tax administration
and reforms in the system but they are never brought into being. Laws
are passed which must improve the system and help it become a factor
for the improvement of the business environment in Armenia, fostering
the fight on oligarchy, but the situation remains unchanged, and tax
and customs policy still favors the oligarchs.
"We are now facing a problem to improve essentially tax collections in
2012. I want us all to be aware that it is not solely the function of
the State Revenue Committee. All the members of the government must be
responsible for tax collections. In particular, all the ministers and
heads of agencies are instructed to submit detailed information on the
tax bases in their areas to the minister of finance within a week..."
said Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in the meeting of government on
September 8.
His words express lack of confidence in the State Revenue Committee.
Perhaps therefore the prime minister addresses the ministers to
engage actively in tax administration and submit the overview of
the tax base to the ministry of finance. Perhaps Tigran Sargsyan
needs to have his own overview as an alternative to the overview
Gagik Khachatryan presents to Serzh Sargsyan. Having an alternative
overview, Tigran Sargsyan will have an extra tool, an extra argument
which will strengthen him in his rivalry with Gagik Khachatryan.
But the question is whether all the ministers will fully support
Tigran Sargsyan. Perhaps there is no doubt that the government has
ministers who are not accountable to the prime minister politically.
For instance, Tigran Sargsyan who gave this instruction to the
ministers singled our four spheres:
"In particular, we are interested in the analysis of the energy sector
where we estimate growth. We need to see the amount of increase of
the tax base of this sector and how much extra revenue the companies
of the energy sector will ensure. The second sector is building, the
third is transport and communications, the fourth is public health
where co-financing has been introduced..." Tigran Sargsyan said.
Apparently these are the sectors which Tigran Sargsyan does not trust
and is not competent in. The minister of energy Armen Movsisyan is
perhaps one of the oldest members of the cabinet. In the past few
years he has been strong, and the possible dismissal of almost all
the other ministers was brought up except Armen Movsisyan's. Is it
the lack of a professional substitute or strong political back-up
which also ensures his information security?
One of the other sectors which Tigran Sargsyan mentioned, communication
and transport, is de jure owned by the Orinats Yerkir Party, and
Minister Manuk Vardanyan is also one of the oldest members and is
drifting at the front of the state administration system, because
they don't head the cadastre for many years for no reason.
The sectors of building and public health belong to the Bargavach
Hayastan Party the leader of which Gagik Tsarukyan announced once
that he pays extra salary to his ministers to eliminate the risk of
corruption. If the ministers get an extra salary, they are perhaps
accountable to their payer rather than the de facto head of the
government.
The government of Armenia is an interesting and colorful picture, and
though this mosaic works without emergencies yet, at least preventing
demonstration of physical signs, it is nevertheless obvious that the
system is facing a huge potential of crisis-generating psychological
emergencies.
Nobody trusts anybody. And the question occurs if they trust Serzh
Sargsyan, or who trusts Serzh Sargsyan at all.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/comments23280.html
Published: 10:25:31 - 09/09/2011
The State Revenue Committee is essential to the overall control of
the state administration system and the government, and it is not
accidental that the issue of replacement of its chief lying on the
agenda of the government and the economic arena, nevertheless, remains
unsolved, and the owner of major businesses Gagik Khachatryan continues
to occupy the position of the chief of the tax and customs committee.
The issue of his replacement is regularly brought up but resolved in
favor of Khachatryan who is supported considerably by the oligarchy,
especially the importer oligarchs for which reason even a sign of a
slightest change within the SRC may cause anxiety. It is not accidental
that on the day when the Armenian media environment discussed
actively the rumors that the president had signed the dismissal of
Gagik Khachatryan, the price of sugar soared on the Armenian market
and the agitation regarding Gagik Khachatryan's dismissal faded away.
The Armenian media has often echoed the conflict between Khachatryan
and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. Since his appointment, Tigran
Sargsyan has been speaking about improvement of tax administration
and reforms in the system but they are never brought into being. Laws
are passed which must improve the system and help it become a factor
for the improvement of the business environment in Armenia, fostering
the fight on oligarchy, but the situation remains unchanged, and tax
and customs policy still favors the oligarchs.
"We are now facing a problem to improve essentially tax collections in
2012. I want us all to be aware that it is not solely the function of
the State Revenue Committee. All the members of the government must be
responsible for tax collections. In particular, all the ministers and
heads of agencies are instructed to submit detailed information on the
tax bases in their areas to the minister of finance within a week..."
said Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in the meeting of government on
September 8.
His words express lack of confidence in the State Revenue Committee.
Perhaps therefore the prime minister addresses the ministers to
engage actively in tax administration and submit the overview of
the tax base to the ministry of finance. Perhaps Tigran Sargsyan
needs to have his own overview as an alternative to the overview
Gagik Khachatryan presents to Serzh Sargsyan. Having an alternative
overview, Tigran Sargsyan will have an extra tool, an extra argument
which will strengthen him in his rivalry with Gagik Khachatryan.
But the question is whether all the ministers will fully support
Tigran Sargsyan. Perhaps there is no doubt that the government has
ministers who are not accountable to the prime minister politically.
For instance, Tigran Sargsyan who gave this instruction to the
ministers singled our four spheres:
"In particular, we are interested in the analysis of the energy sector
where we estimate growth. We need to see the amount of increase of
the tax base of this sector and how much extra revenue the companies
of the energy sector will ensure. The second sector is building, the
third is transport and communications, the fourth is public health
where co-financing has been introduced..." Tigran Sargsyan said.
Apparently these are the sectors which Tigran Sargsyan does not trust
and is not competent in. The minister of energy Armen Movsisyan is
perhaps one of the oldest members of the cabinet. In the past few
years he has been strong, and the possible dismissal of almost all
the other ministers was brought up except Armen Movsisyan's. Is it
the lack of a professional substitute or strong political back-up
which also ensures his information security?
One of the other sectors which Tigran Sargsyan mentioned, communication
and transport, is de jure owned by the Orinats Yerkir Party, and
Minister Manuk Vardanyan is also one of the oldest members and is
drifting at the front of the state administration system, because
they don't head the cadastre for many years for no reason.
The sectors of building and public health belong to the Bargavach
Hayastan Party the leader of which Gagik Tsarukyan announced once
that he pays extra salary to his ministers to eliminate the risk of
corruption. If the ministers get an extra salary, they are perhaps
accountable to their payer rather than the de facto head of the
government.
The government of Armenia is an interesting and colorful picture, and
though this mosaic works without emergencies yet, at least preventing
demonstration of physical signs, it is nevertheless obvious that the
system is facing a huge potential of crisis-generating psychological
emergencies.
Nobody trusts anybody. And the question occurs if they trust Serzh
Sargsyan, or who trusts Serzh Sargsyan at all.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress